Conventional broadcast television advertising models developed during the 1950's and 1960's are threatened by numerous forces in today's broadcast market. Costly, pre-produced commercials are today seen by ever fewer people as viewers disperse across a broad range of choices, channels and networks. Additionally, new technologies such as digital video recorders, also known as personal video recorders or digital personal video recorders, enable viewers to skip commercials altogether. Techniques for the targeting of advertisements are meager allowing rough targeting based only on the content of the media, the demographics of the audience of a particular television show, or the demographics of residents in an area having a particular zip code.
Some industry experts question how long the old world approach can last before the entire system becomes impossible to justify.